Secrets behind The Secret
This article is delves deeper into the theory and method of The Secret and presents complementary strategies and techniques that can be used to enhance its effectiveness. The Process of Creation The Secret is a method for accomplishment. It has not been invented by anyone. It is only one way of describing and consciously applying a universal process that is the basis for all human accomplishment and, in fact, the basis for all creation in the universe. This process is referred to on the Human Science site as the Process of Creation. This process is the means by which infinite Consciousness manifests itself as finite material and living forms in the universe. The Theory of Creation project explores the metaphysical and spiritual basis for this process. All power is derived from Consciousness. Consciousness, not mechanical laws or random chance, is the true creator of the universe. All creation in the universe is by a process of Self-conception -- by the formulation of an idea or objective or result and then application of will to energize that idea with the power for realization. Human beings create and accomplish by the same process. The Secret is a practical method for making that process more conscious and effective. Whatever the goal or the method , the process always begins with forming a clear conception of something we want to achieve or become. Aspiration vs. Expectation Consciousness is power. The time taken for accomplishment depends on the strength of our aspiration and the intensity with which we apply it. Sometimes we confuse aspiration with wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is a dream of achieving something without the intense will to achieve it. It is passive and satisfied, a pleasant thought. Aspiration is active and intense, a determined will. Aspiration is also confused with expectation. Both express a will for accomplishment, one strong and the other weak. When we aspire, we send forth energy to bring a result. When we expect, we wait for something to come. Aspiration is active. Expectation is passive. In aspiration, we feel we can determine the results by the intensity of our will. In expectation, we depend on others or circumstances to accomplish for us. The more intense our aspiration, the faster and greater the result that comes. Whereas expectation can have the opposite result. It has the power to postpone the result until we stop consciously looking for it to appear. Conscious vs. Subconscious If there is only one fundamental process of creation, then all the events and results that occur in our lives must in some way be expressions or results of that process. Yet it is evident that we do not consciously will and seek all that happens to us and around us. There are times when we are not consciously seeking anything, but still events occur. How or what determines these results? The process of creation is occurring all the time, whether we know it or not, whether we are conscious or not. The Secret advocates consciously utilizing this process to achieve what you aspire for. It also cautions that the same process – the same law of attraction -- is active every time you think about something you do not want or do not like as well, so be careful what you focus your attention on. Consciousness is power. Still most of us would respond that many things occur which we did not think about consciously at all. Here lies the other side of the truth. Our conscious attention is only one aspect of our consciousness. A large part, indeed the major part, of our consciousness is subconscious – meaning it lies below our surface awareness. Skills are examples of this. Whether you type on the computer or write with a pen, a subconscious knowledge and will guide each movement and enable you to correctly put down your thoughts. Physical skills belong to the subconscious of the body, the subconscious physical. Similarly, we all possess subconscious attitudes, aspirations, thoughts, conceptions, desires, preferences, fears and impulses which are casting out their vibrations just as inevitably as the habits which guide the body when we walk, eat or breathe. The process of creation applies to these as well. Fear of failure attracts the failure one fears. Doubts and suspicion about the trustworthiness of other people attracts to us untrustworthy people. They too are elements of consciousness that have the power of attraction. Observant people can often trace the sources of their own illnesses, accidents, disturbances and failures to this source in the subconscious. Proponents of The Secret advise us to focus on the positive powers of The Secret, rather than dwell on the natural consequences arising from subconscious action of the law of attraction. In practice, the more we try to consciously utilize the law of attraction, the more we become aware in ourselves of those very subconscious elements that stand in the way of our accomplishment. Success is most readily achieved by reversing or removing these negative elements as Darcy did in Pride & Prejudice. Since consciousness is power, that power can be consciously exercised by us over our own subconscious formations. Only a highly realized yogi can possess sufficient power of consciousness to fully expose and illumine all the dark corners of the subconscious. But all of us have the power to direct whatever consciousness we do possess positively. That is why The Secret advocates three powerful strategies – cheerfulness, faith and gratitude – to utilize the consciousness we have in the most positive and constructive way possible for us. Ego vs. Non-ego Some object to The Secret on moralistic grounds that it caters to narrow, selfish materialistic motives. Surely, they argue, it cannot be the aim of the universe to help a few people become fabulously wealthy or buy fancy cars! Why should the universal force lend itself to such petty purposes? There is a truth in this view, but there is a limitation on this truth. The universe can act to fulfill our aspirations only in the measure we open ourselves to the power of the universe. That is what The Secret means by alignment. The ego acts like a straight-jacket imprisoning us within our small personal existence cut off from the world around us. The universe is an infinite energy. But it can enter our lives only in the measure we relate to something beyond our narrow boundaries. All of the methods advocated in The Secret are intended to help us escape from the confines of ego, even if it is done for a selfish personal motive. When a person earning $8000 a year conceives and aspires to earn $100,000, he is overcoming the narrow boundaries of his present existence, expanding beyond his limiting ego, even if he appears to be acting purely for personal, selfish motives. Therefore, the universe responds. In common parlance we use the term 'ego' to denote someone who is self-centered, ambitious and self-important. But the ego is present in all of us, even those who exhibit the very opposite of these characteristics. A person who doubts his own capacity or self-worth, who feels it is wrong to aspire or assert, who feels other people are far more important and deserving is also living well within the bounds of the ego. Only in this case the ego feels weak, helpless and insignificant instead of strong, capable and important. The essence of ego is the sense of separateness. The exaggerated sense of self-importance is only one expression of ego. In order for the universe to act in our lives, we have to rise above the constraints placed on us by the ego sense and realize in one way or another that we are much greater than our present being – in fact, our true Self is infinite and one with all – and we have much greater potential for accomplishment than we have realized up to now. The aggressive entrepreneur who seeks to earn more and more money is really trying to exceed the limiting boundaries of his ego, albeit for selfish purposes, just the way the star athlete aspires to break new records and reach the top spot. Striving for higher accomplishment that far exceeds our present level of achievement is an expansive movement that helps us overcome the limitations of ego. Ego has played a very important role in the evolution of humanity from the physically unconscious animal to the mentally self-conscious individual. Now humanity is at the stage where it becomes a bar for further progress. The methods of cheerfulness, faith and gratitude advocated in The Secret are all methods designed to help us shift away from the ego. It is very difficult for the ego to remain always cheerful, because so many things happen in and around us that are not to our liking. To remain always cheerful is to shift away from the surface ego to a deeper center of consciousness inside that is in harmony with the universe around. To generate such a powerful faith that we feel now how we will feel after achieving the goal we aspire for is also a means to move away from the ego. The ego is full of desire, impatience and discontent. To feel fulfilled now means to reject these disturbing influences of the ego. Gratitude is very powerful because it makes us stop thinking about ourselves and what we want and concentrate instead on what life and other people have already given us. The advocacy of these three spiritual methods shows that The Secret is based on profound wisdom. Goodwill and Self-giving The best way to escape and transcend the limits of ego is to feel genuine, intense good will for others and to practice total self-giving. To feel the joy in the joy of another is Good Will. The ego is highly competitive. It judges its own importance and success relative to the achievements of other people. When others accomplish more, it feels smaller and as if it had less than before. Therefore, to generate intense goodwill that takes joy in the accomplishments of other people is a powerful means for transcending the ego. Those who can ardently aspire for others to succeed and prosper generate the maximum receptivity for success and prosperity in their own lives. Self-giving is even more powerful than goodwill. To grow by giving is Self-giving. Moving from selfishness to selflessness helps the being expand and increases the energy of the personality. To give oneself in thought, feeling and act without calculation of return is an ultimate spiritual discipline and path to higher accomplishment. That giving may be to a person, an ideal, an organization or to God. It is most powerful when there is no thought or expectation or demand for recognition or return, only the joy of giving oneself. Not everyone can practice self-giving. But everyone can raise their level of personal efficiency. This is a less powerful method that has a similar result because it gathers and concentrates our available energy so it can be more effectively utilized. Efficiency is a laborious physical method. Self-giving is an enjoyable spiritual method. Rising above the ego though goodwill and self-giving can invoke the highest powers in the universe to act in our lives. When we do this, the universe invariably responds, bringing what we aspire for. But since in this case our aspiration is not selfish, the benefit comes not only to the one who aspires but to everyone. Silent Will Silence is one of several important issues that are not mentioned in The Secret. You learn as a child that when you make a wish, it is better not to speak about it to other people. This belief is based on a profound truth of life. Speech is an act that consumes energy in the process of giving expression to a thought. Each time we speak about our goal to others, we are throwing out energy that can be better conserved as fuel for accomplishment. Silence is powerful. Silent will is more powerful than will expressed in words. This is especially true when we speak about our aspirations to others who may feel jealous or threatened by our accomplishment. Furthermore, when we speak about our intention of a great accomplishment, it is very difficult to prevent the ego from deriving from pleasure or sense of importance from the communication. When we take pleasure merely in talking about an accomplishment, that sense of satisfaction saps our energy for accomplishment and we end up only talking about it, never doing it. Pride, satisfaction and contentment with what we have or are is the enemy of higher accomplishment. Of course, there are times and people to whom speaking of our goal is appropriate or even essential. Speaking to those who have intense goodwill for us will magnify the power of aspiration. Speaking to those whose consent or cooperation is essential is necessary to avoid conflicts later on. Most spiritual disciplines advise practitioners not to speak about their experiences to other people, except to the guru whose guidance and support is essential for accomplishment. Perfection in detail Another very powerful, subtle strategy for accomplishment is based on the importance of the Infinitesimal. When we seek a great goal, we often disregard the small details as insignificant and unimportant. In fact, the very opposite is true. The best way to progress toward a great accomplishment is to make every small act as perfect as possible. To us the Infinitesimal and the Infinite seem like opposites. But spiritually, the Infinitesimal is a manifestation of the Infinite. That is why it is very difficult to perform even the simplest act perfectly. If you try to keep a room perfectly clear, you will constantly discover areas that have been missed or that cannot be maintained in that condition. If you try to make everything you write – even the most casual message -- error-free, you discover that it requires enormous attention and effort. The CEO of a small, local beverage company in South India wrote to one of the largest multinational soft drink companies applying for a distributorship in that area. He put enormous concentration into preparing the letter without a single error or imperfection. To his utter amazement his small company was selected over much larger firms. When he asked the VP of the multinational why his small company had been selected, the VP replied that he was extremely impressed by the letter the CEO had written. High achievers know that perfection in small matters is powerful. Avoid clumsy movements, loud noises, spilling, breaking, tearing and every other form of disharmony with the environment. Avoiding small incidents of friction, dispute, quarrel and annoyance is even more important. When your goal is high accomplishment, the very best method is to make ever small act as perfect and harmonious as possible. It is a method that brings a much greater result, much sooner. As a senior executive of IBM put it, “God is in the details.” Power of Non-initiative The ego is an organization of consciousness that enables the individual to gather personal experience and organize knowledge from it. It creates a center of concentration with sufficient intensity for the universe to evolve through it. That which is greater than the ego sense is referred to by ‘‘The Secret’’ as the universe. In the measure the individual suspends the action of his ego, the universe is able to act. When the individual takes external initiative to accomplish, the response of the universal is minimal. When the individual refuses to take initiative and invokes the universal consciousness to act, the response is maximum. A Dutch entrepreneur on a spiritual quest realized the value of education and took a degree at the age of 40. Many years later he went on to take an M.B.A. Out of idealism, he offered voluntary service to a distinguished international academic organization. After about ten years of such service, he was made an Associate Fellow, an honor he had never imagined possible. He was devoid of ambition and only wanted to give. His mentor proposed that he take a Ph.D. so that he might eventually qualify to become a full Fellow in the organization. As a person who does not know his own inner potential, he found the proposal intimidating. After hesitating for years, he finally consented to register for Ph.D. and spent over a year preparing his proposal. Before he even submitted the proposal, he was unexpected elected as a Fellow of the organization. His emotional willingness brought the result even before he began to act. When the results we seek are far beyond out present capacities and resources, but the intensity of our aspiration is sufficiently great, life waits for us to give up striving for the result and then suddenly presents us with all the necessary conditions for accomplishment. This process is dramatically illustrated by events in a sequel to Alexander Dumas’ The ‘‘Three Musketeers’’. After the execution of the English king Charles I by Cromwell, Charles’ son escaped to Holland where he lived in exile, impoverished and without a following. Ten years later Cromwell died and there was a fight for succession. Young Charles II saw his last hope of regaining the throne. He travelled to France incognito to seek money or troops from young Louis XIV with which he could attempt to regain power. When Louis refused him, he fell into despair and abandoned any hope of restoring the monarchy in England. Within a few hours of his meeting with Louis, he had a chance encounter with a French courtier from whom he learned that the exact sum of money he sought to launch a campaign was hidden by Charles I before his death and is now available for his son. Within a month of these events, Charles II regained the throne of England without even having to expend that money. When the last hope is lost, one exhausts his efforts and forgets it. Forgetting the goal is to withdraw one’s own mental influence, allowing the universe to accomplish in one’s life as it chooses without the limitations of our egoistic understanding. The Complete Act Every successful act is an act of accomplishment that applies the process of creation. Whether we walk, talk, write, read, compose, invent or play, we are directing our consciousness to achieve certain results. There are three essential ingredients in every successful act. * Self-conception: A clear mental conception of the goal to be achieved. * Emotional endorsement: Release of emotional energy to achieve the goal. * Skilled execution: Action that expresses all the skills required for completion of the act. When the action is be physical and external, we rely on our own capacities to achieve the result. When it is inner and psychological, as The Secret advocates, we rely on the universe to act on our behalf. Decision-making The methodology of The Secret presupposes that you have already decided what it is you want to accomplish. But in practice, it does not usually work that way. Our decision as to what we want to accomplish is strongly influenced by what we believe we can accomplish and what we are ready to commit our energies to seriously pursue. The Secret works in instances in which your decision – the choice of the goal – fulfills all the essential conditions. There are four types of decisions: 1.Decisions that are directly fulfilled. 2.Decisions that get off to a good start, but ultimately fail to achieve. 3.Decisions that are difficult to begin acting upon, but are ultimately accomplished. 4.Decisions that are a failure from start to finish. These four situations can be graphically represented by the four quadrants below: I + inside + outside II + inside - outside III - inside + outside IV - inside - outside Quadrant I: This quadrant applies to instances in which all the essential requirements for fulfillment of the decision are met. These requirements consist of external conditions as well as inner psychological conditions. If you decide to climb Mt. Everest, learning the essential skills of mountain-climbing is an external requirement. Having the inner courage, fortitude and determination to face the challenge and persevere are internal requirements. Where both inner and outer conditions are fulfilled, success is assured and it will come readily. Quadrant II: This quadrant applies to instances in which all the essential inner requirements are met, but the outer requirements are lacking. Such decisions get off to a slow start, encounter many obstacles on the way, but ultimately end in success. This is in consonance with the teaching of The Secret that psychological conditions are of paramount importance, not external realities. When you chose a goal for which you are not outwardly prepared and qualified, it takes time for the inner aspiration to bring about the necessary conditions. Quadrant III: This quadrant applies to instances in which all the essential external requirements are met, but the inner requirements are lacking. Such decisions usually get off to a good start, but ultimately end in failure. A person with sufficient knowledge, skill and experience in mountain-climbing, connections with people who organize treks and sufficient funds to outfit themselves properly may find it relatively easy to commence preparations for the conquest of Mt. Everest. But if they do not also fulfill the inner conditions – if they lack the emotional fortitude, the self-confidence, the faith in other people, the patience to wait for suitable conditions, etc. – their enterprise is likely to stall even in the formative stage and even the attempt may never be made. Quadrant IV: This quadrant applies to instances in which both the essential inner and outer requirements are lacking. There are situations where neither the outer nor the inner is ready. It is like the longing of one for a house who is intimidated inwardly by that suggestion and outwardly can never complete all the requirements. When The Secret says that anyone can achieve anything, it only means that wherever a person’s decision falls in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th quadrants, following the methodology of The Secret will enable the person to move into the first quadrant, where failure is unknown. Mental concentration on the goal, releasing one’s emotional energy to achieve it, attuning oneself to the external environment, feeling cheerful, having faith and expressing gratitude are powerful methods for advancing from any of the lower quadrants by moving inwardly to make life respond. Understanding History The Secret is a method based on the universal process of creation. The same process applies to the accomplishments of individuals, organizations and countries. It can be used not only to achieve results in future but also to better understand results that have been achieved in the past. For in all cases, the final outcome is determined by inner psychological conditions that cannot be discerned from a study of the external facts alone. The Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire and giving France domination over Europe for nearly a decade. Although the armies were equal in size, Napoleon’s superior strategy and planning led to a rout in which 37% of the enemy forces and most of their artillery were captured or destroyed. Historians who try to explain the outcome of the battle, war or other significant event in retrospect in terms of external facts and events forget that there were hundreds of factor that could have resulted in a different outcome. The inner process is the determinant of how those factors develop and interact and the outcome they produce. For the first time in history Mahatma Gandhi conceived of non-violence, Satyagraha, as a method to achieve India’s independence from British rule. His faith in his method won freedom for India in 1947 and for 45 other Asian and African nations. In 1942 Gandhiji launched the Quit India movement. In response, the British arrested Gandhi and about 10,000 leaders of the Indian National Congress Party. The movement lost momentum and quickly died down. The British rebuffed all efforts to get Gandhi released from prison. But Gandhi’s faith in his method and his determination to accomplish were unshaken. While in jail, Gandhi became very serious ill with malaria, but he refused to take the medicine offered to him. The British became deeply concerned that a violent revolution might break out were he to die in prison, so they promptly released him. What could not be achieved by the pressure of hundreds of millions of people, was achieved by the bite of a mosquito! That is why The Secret counsels us not to be concerned with how the result will be achieved. There are innumerable and unimaginable ways for life to accomplish any goal. Savtri Savitri is an epic poem written by Sri Aurobindo in 1950. It is based on a tale from the ancient epic, about a princess named Savitri who marries Satyavan, a prince living in exile. One year after their marriage, Satyavan dies. Savitri confronts the Lord of Death and by the power of chastity and will wins back the life of her Satyavan. Sri Aurobindo took this story and converted it into a spiritual parable. In his version, Savitri, the daughter of the Sun, she pursued the Lord of Death and transformed him from a being of Darkness into a being of Light. The Message of this epic is that an individual has the power to abolish death, suffering and evil by transcending the limits of ego. The essence of The Secret is expressed in the following lines from the poem: A Prayer, a Master act, a King Idea Can link man’s strength to a Transcendent Force. Then miracle is made the common rule. The Secret cites actual instances in which such a link between the individual and the Transcendent leading to results that appear miraculous. Summary of Strategy The following are the conditions by which we can attune ourselves with the creative universal energy to accomplish in our lives: #Understand and comprehend the laws of the universe. #Intensely aspire for what you want until the aspiration becomes a physical sensation. #Try to convert the aspiration into gratitude. #Generate intense, happy inner emotions in support of your aspiration. #Ensure that your decisions are in the 1st quadrant of the decision-making matrix or take steps to move to the first quadrant as soon as possible. #Your aspiration should reach the height of intensity and saturate your emotional being. The indication of that is one feels as if he has already achieved. #Be entirely positive and patient. #Shift entirely to reliance on the inner consciousness or the universal forces rather than dependence on external circumstances and events. #Shift away from the ego as far as possible. #Instead of seeking a personal goal, leave the goal to the universe. See also [[Message of The Secret | Message of The Secret]] [[Making The Secret work for you|Making The Secret work for you]] The Secret of Romance Theory of Luck [[Unanswered Questions about The Secret | Unanswered Questions about The Secret]] The Secret Forum The Secret Project main page Category:Life Category:Prosperity Category:Accomplishment Category:The Secret